Apple announced today that CEO Steve Jobs will deliver the keynote address at the June 6 Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, setting the stage for a round of media attention that is likely to focus equally on Apple's cloud services offering and on Jobs himself. Jobs had taken yet another medical leave this year, so the announcement that he will definitely appear at WWDC is major news.
Rather than seeking to distinguish its corporate identity from Jobs, Apple seems to be continuing to fuse its worldwide presence with that of its co-founder, despite his serious health issues. Similarly, Walt Disney the company executive was indistinguishable from the company entity he founded, and this strategy to put a human face (and first and last name) on a brand continues to pay off for the Walt Disney Company.
Apple is telling us that Jobs will always be a part of the company—whatever the future will bring. This is a smart, positive, hopeful message for the company's investors and intensely loyal base of customers.